


Dexterous

by Xiscorr



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 - Fandom, Mass Effect 3 - Fandom
Genre: AND YES THE TITLE IS A PUN ABOUT THEIR BIOLOGY AND SKILLS SO LAUGH, F/M, and the other crew members, its a lot of little bits of their interaction with each other and my shep, some femshep/kaidan but this fic is FULL TALIBRATIONS KIDDOS, this will span all three games so i'll have to update the characters once i get there :P, where we're going we don't need squad limits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:43:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9656084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xiscorr/pseuds/Xiscorr
Summary: If you had told Garrus he'd go on a galaxy spanning adventure with a human Spectre, piss off every gang in Omega, and fall in love with a quarian along the way he would have laughed.If you had told Tali her pilgrimage would lead her into the middle of a galactic conflict, be rescued by a human Spectre, become an Admiral in the Flotilla, and fall in love with a turian along the way she'd call you a bosh'tet and tell you that kind of stuff only happens in holo-vids.





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FidgetyWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FidgetyWriter/gifts).



Garrus hadn't really thought much about Shepard when he first met her. In fairness he'd been begging Executor Pallin for more time on his investigation into Saren's activities. A long line of red tape and classified files that had yielded little. He had only spoken with her for a few moments before diving back into his now closed case.

He'd gone back to check on Dr. Michel, hoping beyond hope that she'd tell him what she was hiding. The woman was a terrible liar but she'd held her ground. Finding her surrounded by thugs asking about his last visit had been a surprise but not and unwelcome one. It meant there was more to her secret than he had guessed.

Shepard's entrance had bought him the second he needed to take out the gunman holding the doctor hostage and her biotic pull had knocked the three other lackeys into the wall. The two humans with her, whom she would introduce as Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, shot them with military precision.

“Perfect timing, Shepard,” he said.

“I have a way of making great entrances,” she replied with a grin. “That was a good shot.”

“Sometimes you get lucky. Dr. Michel, are you hurt?”

“No, I'm fine,” the doctor replied, smoothing her ruffled hair, “thanks to all of you.” Shepard questioned why Michel would be a target for mercenaries and the Doctor finally relented. Hearing that Fist was already setting a trap for the quarian made Garrus' gut turn. Based on Michel's information she was young enough to be on her Pilgrimage, scared, and probably trusted the Doctor sent her into good hands. Shepard insisted they see Wrex first, wanting more muscle to bring to the fight and more information about Fist.

He had thought getting Wrex to help would have been difficult but Shepard took everything the krogan said in stride and simply offered to lead him to his quarry. The turian had to admit Wrex was helpful in the firefight Chora's Den, even Fist's seasoned bodyguards hesitated to fight a krogan. Garrus was more than happy to let Wrex charge into the fight headfirst and give him plenty of room to snipe from the doorway. Ashley followed the krogan until she was at mid-range before ducking behind a flipped table and peppering the battlefield with assault rifle fire.

But by far the most impressive part of the battle was Shepard and Kaidan. The telltale blue glow of their biotics engulfed them and each unfortunate enemy who was Lifted by the Commander and Thrown into the wall by Lieutenant Alenko. Garrus could have sworn he heard limbs and sometimes spines cracking from the impact. Shepard ushered them through the next door quickly, shoving past the two warehouse workers and telling them to get out before C-Sec thought they were involved. Her charge was cut short by Fist's turrets.

“Any chance either of you have some tech knowledge you'd care to share?” she asked him and Wrex. The krogan shrugged but Garrus piped up.

“A little sabotage tactic will shut them down.”

“I'll give you an opening,” Shepard said, “move fast.” She wove a barrier and dove to the desk, drawing the turrets fire long enough for Garrus to disable them both. Kaidan hurled Fist against the wall as the traitor lined up a shot at the Commander.

“Well Fist, I think you and I can have a nice short chat about the location of a friend of mine,” Shepard said, moving to loom over the prone mercenary.

“I don't know where she is,” he whimpered.

“He's lying,” Ashley scoffed.

“I've got bullets but not a lot of time,” Shepard responded, “so if you like your knee caps intact I think you can do a little better.”

“I told her I could get her a meeting with the Shadow Broker,” Fist confessed. “She fell for it. Saren's men are waiting for her.”

“And I've got a bullet aimed at your head and an itchy trigger finger. Where is the meeting?”

“The back alley by the markets. Now let me out of here before the Shadow Broker's men find me.”

“Oh dearie me,” Shepard said mockingly, “I wouldn't want to ruin your escape. Oh wait. Wrex, who was your employer again?” The krogan's response was a swift shotgun blast to Fist's head. “Wrex, I appreciate your style but next time let me back away a little more before you do that.” She wiped the blood off her cheek but was still smiling. “So Garrus, you probably know the Citadel better than the rest of us, what's the quickest way to the market?” The group fought their way to the alley but with Garrus' help they managed to avoid most of the thugs. Shepard motioned for quiet right before they rounded the corner.

“… where is Fist?” the quarian asked the turian in front of her. Garrus had thought she'd be more quiet but she stood firm, even when the assassin trailed his hand down her arm.

“He'll be here, where is the evidence?”

“No way,” she snapped, shoving him away. “The deal's off.” The two salarians who had been casually chatting in the background turned to her with guns raised. The quarian dove to cover, but not before throwing a proximity mine at their feet. Garrus and Ashley each shot one salarian in the head, leaving Shepard and Alenko to send the turian assassin careering into the wall. Wrex put a few rounds in him just for good measure.

“Fist set me up!” the quarian raged, dusting off the debris from her mine, “I knew I couldn't trust that bosh'tet!”  
“Well he's a little more than dead so I wouldn't worry about him causing you any more problems,” Shepard said.

“That makes two problems you've solved for me, thank you…?” the quarian trailed off, waiting for a name.

“Commander Rachel Shepard, galactic bad-ass and rescuer extraordinaire. Any further questions will be answered on our way back to the Ambassador’s quarters where you won't be shot at anymore.” Alenko and Williams closed ranks behind the quarian while Wrex and Garrus took the flanks. Shepard didn't tread ahead but instead walked next to their newest associate. “I didn't get your name either.”

“Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya,” the quarian answered.

“I actually haven't met a quarian,” the commander mused. “Well I've never gotten to chat with one anyway. What brings you to the Citadel?”

“I was on my Pilgrimage,” Tali said, “its a rite of passage for young quarians. We leave the flotilla and find something valuable to bring to our new ship since we leave our old one. I was born on the Rayya.”

“I read about the naming convention. Nar is 'child of', right?”

“Yes, I didn't think you'd know much about my culture.”

“I read a _lot_. I'll probably pester you to death with questions later. But I am curious how you wound up getting evidence of a Spectre's betrayal.”

“I heard reports that there was geth activity beyond the Veil. They were on an uncharted world and one got separated from the group. I disabled it and took its memory core. Keeping most of the data intact was difficult but I saved what I could and got an audio file you'll want to hear.”

“Well have to play it for the Ambassador and Captain Anderson but for now we should stay under the radar. Chances are some of Saren's thugs are still looking for us. But I gotta admit Fist and Michel made you sound like a scared little girl, not a tech genius with a killer throwing arm.”

“When I was in Doctor Michel's care I had just been shot,” Tali drawled.

“Fair enough, and I can vouch for Fist being an idiot. I'm just saying that I'd like to work with you more if you are willing. The engineering staff on the Normandy is top notch but I've always liked getting another pair of eyes to weigh in. Especially from someone that wasn't told all through their assignment that she's the best ship ever built.”

 

~*~

 

Tali could safely say she hadn't seen her day going like this. After she had realized Fist had sold her out she had thought it was over. Now she was in the human Ambassador's office waiting for Commander Shepard to return with the Council's decision. She was a lot nicer than Tali would have thought. The other woman, Ashley, was a little colder and didn't seem comfortable with all the aliens around. Wrex was in the corner absently cleaning his shotgun. Few krogan mercenaries where known by the Flotilla but Wrex's adventures made for great stories. Kaidan, the other human, was resting across the room, his forehead pulled into a grimace. The only person who didn't seem occupied was the turian. He caught her looking his way and walked over.

“Rough day?” he asked.

“Well you don't get shot and hunter down by rogue Spectres every day,” she replied dryly.

“I would hope not. Garrus Vakarian. Shepard left me out in the introductions.”

“She seemed a little occupied in taking down Saren.”

“I would be too. The bastard was hard to investigate.”

“You were investigating him?”

“On behalf of C-Sec. But they wrap a lot of red tape around anything a Spectre touches so it was slow going. Michel wouldn't tell me anything about you until Shepard showed up.”

“She does have a way with people,” Tali added.

“Funny you should say that,” Garrus chuckled. “She had already wrangled me and Wrex into joining her little parade and it looks like she's got you too. Its weird how she knows who to punch and who to charm.”

“So far she's been spot on,” Ashley said, jumping into the conversation. “You've been around her the most L.T. Am I wrong?” Kaidan opened his eyes and smirked.

“Well no one expects her to be so smooth. The alliance nearly put her on standby but she changed their minds fast.”

“And you think she's _real_ smooth huh?” Williams teased. Alenko reddened but pressed on.

“Well when you survive a slaver attack on your home as a kid and then crawl out of a place like Akuze alive _and_ don't get benched you know she's smart.”

“I'm not familiar with these events,” Tali said.

“Shepard grew up on Mindoir,” Kaidan explained, “a border colony in the Traverse. Slavers saw it as an easy target. They killed or captured just about everyone who lived there. Shepard was one of the few who were left when the Alliance patrol got word of the attack and came to look for survivors. She swore that day she'd join the Alliance to make sure no one else suffered the same fate.”

“But Akuze makes that look like a walk in the park,” Ashley chimed in. “Try fighting a group of thresher maws on foot. She was the only one who made it out of that massacre.”

“I'd recommend not asking her about it,” Alenko warned. “Joker glared so hard at the last person who even mentioned it in passing that I doubt its something she wants to talk about. I didn't see much of her reaction but it was… subdued.” A somber silence fell over the group. Tali fiddled with her omni tool, scrolling through entries about Shepard curiously. As if summoned by her digging the Commander burst into the room.

“Guess who's the first human Spectre and gets to stick it to that asshole turian who tried to screw me over?! Times up its' me! So pack your bags because we're hunting the bastard down!”


	2. Focus

Tali hadn't realized how quiet the Normandy was until she was trying to fall asleep. Despite Shepard's enthusiasm for hunting down Saren they were going to make a stop on Edolus to look for some missing marines. The Commander insisted that since they were in the neighborhood it wouldn't take long to stop by. Kaidan interrupted her excuses to reveal the real reason, she was dying to drive the Mako. Rachel interjected that was only part of the reason. Admiral Kahoku was a friend of Anderson's and she didn't want to look like an asshole Spectre who ignored her own people.

The soft hum of the ship's engines was too dim to lull the quarian to sleep so she got up to look around the Normandy more. The majority of the engineering staff was taking their sleep shift so she took the time to study the engines themselves. Without the clanging and chugging of the Rayya's centuries old systems and the positivity tiny crew in comparison the Normandy felt lonely.

“Can't sleep?” Tali jumped and prepared to explain herself to a grumpy engineer but it was only Shepard.

“Its so quiet,” Tali explained.

“Most people make that sound like a benefit,” Shepard chuckled. Tali quickly noted the Commander's tired posture as she leaned against the door frame. “Why does the quiet bug you?”

“On any ship in the Flotilla a quiet system is usually not functioning. That could mean anything from environmental controls to oxygen venting. It's generally a cause for alarm.”

“You learn something new every day I guess.”

“Why are you awake?” Tali asked. Shepard frowned slightly and took a moment before replying.

“I had a run in with a Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime. Bits and pieces of whatever it was trying to show me are stuck in my head on a loop. Just war and carnage but fragmented so much that its downright painful. I get some rest here and there but it wakes me up every few hours.”

“Keelah, that’s awful.”

“Which is why I'm hoping Saren has some answers. He was after the beacon and might have seen what I saw if not more. It'll drive me crazy until I know what its about. Its like having a puzzle but all the edge pieces and most of the middle is missing. But I've rambled enough about being a headcase. If you don't mind I'd like to know more about you.”

Shepard asked about Tali's home like, what it was like having a dad who was an Admiral, expressed condolences at her mother's passing, and especially liked hearing about how quarians lived. Tali was in the middle of explaining how she had learned all her engineering and tech skills from her father and uncle when the ship announcement quietly interrupted her.

“Two hours until arrival at Edolus.”

“Shit,” Shepard cursed. “I didn't realize how long we'd been talking. You should at least take a quick nap. I need at least another thirty minutes before I'll be good to go. And I forgot to mention this earlier but if anyone on this ship or really _anyone at all_ gives you any guff for being a quarian I will personally threaten their lives for you. I met a quarian girl on the Citadel who was accused of stealing this volus' credit chit. The moron left it in the last store he'd been in. Lets just say he won't be throwing around accusations so readily anymore. I know you guys have a bad rep for no reason and I'd like to help you start turning that around. Just say the word.” Tali was speechless as Shepard left.

She had been warned that most other species in the galaxy had a low tolerance for quarians and would often try to make them move on as soon as possible much like the corporations who quietly bribed the Fleet to stay away from their mining territories. It was a welcome surprise that Shepard would have her back in any confrontation.

 

~*~

“I just think its suspicious that you and Williams both want to opt out of the Mako mission,” Garrus said. Kaidan shrugged noncommittally but the turian could easily see the man's unease. “Don't try to pull that with me. I know avoidance when I see it.”

“Lets just say shes an enthusiastic driver,” Alenko said.

“Will we come back alive?” Wrex asked bluntly.

“Yeah,” Williams answered, “but maybe not in the best of shape. She sees mountains as a challenge, not an obstacle.”

“The planet is relatively flat at least,” Garrus sighed but his relief was cut short by the two humans laughing.

“Oh good,” Kaidan cheered, “so she'll test _the throttle_ instead.” The turian and the krogan shared a glance as they regretted volunteering to come along. Tali entered the hangar at that moment, her new shotgun holstered on her back.

“Ah, the last of the fresh meat,” Ashley snickered.

“What?” Tali asked.

“Shepard is apparently an adrenaline junky when it comes to the Mako,” Garrus explained. “So if you have any loved ones you need to give final goodbyes to this would be the time.” The Commander came barreling down the stairs before Tali could respond.

“Who is ready to burn some rubber on this planet!?” she shouted exuberantly. “Joker says we're only five minutes out and I want to be strapped in and ready to go before we enter orbit.” The descent to the surface was tense. The landing was fairly smooth and Shepard took a moment to double check the Mako's systems.

“Eerie looking place isn't it?” Garrus observed.

“I'm betting the marines are dead,” Wrex said.

“No negativity in the Mako,” Shepard scolded. “Now lets see what she can do!”

Garrus would later describe this Mako ride as 'an exercise in human insanity'. It didn't matter that the planet had shallow hills, Shepard launched off them. But worse was the open stretches where she would gun the engines and then try 'tactical maneuvers'. The figure eights cause his stomach to churn from the G-forces but the things she called 'donuts' where even worse. Tali was in the front passenger seat to monitor weapon systems but she was busy clutching the handy bars around her seat in terror. Wrex's expression was neutral but the flexed grip on his restraints betrayed his discomfort. The Commander finally finished torturing them and made a beeline for the rough coordinates they had.

“Your Mako initiation is complete,” she announced.

“Keelah, tell me it's really over,” Tali breathed.

“Well,” Shepard mused, “I'll probably still drive like a bat out of hell but nothing that bad ever again. Its the best way to acclimate you. Williams and Alenko thought I was just a bad driver until we had a mountain between us and our objective. They wanted to drive around it. This is an _all terrain_ vehicle, not some wussy hover car. She was built to climb.”

“Not to fly,” Garrus added. Shepard shot him a dirty look.

“I'll ignore that, unless you want to come on the next excursion,” she warned. “Sassing my driving is asking for more. I should honestly shove all of you in here for every mission. There's room. It builds character.”

“Anything at your coordinates?” Joker interrupted. Shepard turned back to the task at hand.

“Nothing so far. But you said there was some leeway with the crash site so I'll check farther out. The sooner one of us spots something the sooner you can leave what Ashley called 'The Commander's Death Trap'.”

“There!” Tali shouted. “There's debris sticking out of the ground.”

“Sounds like a crash to me,” Wrex commented.

“No one appreciates my driving,” Shepard muttered. “Alright lets check it-”

The ground shook suddenly, jarring the Mako sharply. The Commander braked quickly but carefully. She hit the scanner next to her to do a full sweep of the area. Garrus could see from his seat that there was nothing aside from the ping of the debris but Shepard hit the button again. This time a bigger ping was to the left as well.

“Joker, what the hell was that? I picked up something on my radar,” Shepard hissed into her comm.

“It could be tectonic movement. We don't have a lot of info on the planet,” Joker answered. “Let me run a scan from here. It could be a trap.” Shepard's grip on the steering wheel tightened. Garrus actually felt a bit better knowing that her crazed driving would likely throw of any pursuer if they were lying in wait but the whole situation felt off…

 

~*~

 

Tali waited tensely next to the Commander. She'd seen the bigger blip on the radar but despite scanning relentlessly they hadn't picked it up again. Shepard was silent and only the only part of her the moved was her hands squeezing the steering grip rhythmically. The quarian glanced back at Garrus and Wrex but they were both quiet. Garrus shrugged, clearly at a loss.

“The only thing that’s coming up is a weird shaped cavern under the surface,” Joker finally reported. “It might be settling so I wouldn't go too close. If you come from the east you should be able to avoid unstable ground.”

“Roger that, thanks Joker,” Shepard responded. She carefully swung the Mako to the right of the crash site and advanced slowly. “Worst case I hit the jets and we float to safety.” Tali could see that Shepard was trying to be cheerful but she was clearly shaken.

“Shepard,” Wrex warned, “I only know one thing that could cause that kind of movement.”

“And what's that?” she asked. The krogan's answer was cut off by the ground in front of the Mako exploding upward. The dirt rained down on the hood of the vehicle, obscuring their vision for a moment. When the dust settled Tali nearly screamed. A thresher maw loomed above them, looking down at the Mako hungrily.

When Shepard didn't immediately stop Tali turned to her to ask what in Keelah's name she was doing. The Commander was pale and paralyzed, staring blankly at the thresher maw as they moved ever closer to their demise. The quarian sprang into action, putting her left foot on top of Shepard's to gun the Mako's engines and turned the wheel to the right so they wouldn't ram the thresher maw.

“Shepard!” the voice over the comm was probably everyone in the cockpit of the Normandy speaking at once. It was like she woke from a bad dream. The Commander tightened her grip on the wheel. Tali let go and the human gave her a nod of thanks before doing a hairpin turn.

“Garrus,” she said with an icy voice, “I'm going to need you to man the gun. Tali, keep me updated on the armor of the Mako. Wrex, when that bastard opens its mouth give it a cannon blast. It's fucking payback time.” Shepard glanced at her crew. They all nodded solemnly.

With a roar the thresher maw spat a glob of acid toward the charging Mako. Shepard easily dodged, and Wrex put a cannon shot into its mouth. The thresher reeled from the blast and screamed again as Garrus' machine gun fire pierced its hide. They zipped by the monster and the Commander turned to put them in a holding pattern to circle.

“Keep hitting it,” she ordered. “Are we out of cannon range, Wrex?”

“Probably less accurate from here,” he answered, “but these things are predicable when they spit. I can time it.”

“At this distance its still in the spread of the gun,” Garrus added.

“Good,” Shepard glanced at Tali, “how are we holding up?”

“The Mako won't take more than three direct hits from that acid,” the engineer reported. “If it hits close we'll take some damage but it won't be able to affect any key systems without an accurate shot. We have enough fuel to keep this pattern for hours and ammo reserves are good.”

“Damn the alliance should really branch out,” Shepard muttered with a smile. She was still pale and breathing heavily but her eyes were focused, unlike before. They drove circles around the thresher maw for two more rotations. The Commander dodged the acid with either a burst of speed or a gentle brake. Wrex timed his shots perfectly, hitting the thresher in its maw each time. Garrus kept up the assault on the creature's neck after Wrex told him that would do the most damage. The beast fell to the ground with an angry groan. Shepard approached slowly and Wrex still fired a few shots to make sure it was dead.

“Vitals are negative,” Tali reported once Shepard stopped the Mako. The Commander was quiet for a long moment before saying one thing.

“Wrex, give me eight more shots into this things head.” The krogan didn't ask why, and Shepard uttered a name with each blast. “Morris, Verne, Grigg, Carson, Miles, Ferguson, Lewis, and Toombs.” She closed her eyes and sighed heavily before turning the Mako back to their original target. Shepard didn't speak again until they were back aboard the Normandy.

“Thanks for your help,” she said quietly as they parked in the cargo hold. “Tali, for keeping us from crashing, and our two gun men for taking down the thresher maw. Even in one of these that's quite a feat.”

“Among my people killing a thresher maw is considered to be alluring,” Wrex chuckled.

“I'd rather not have the lady krogans know about this,” Garrus sighed.

“They'd call you ugly anyway,” Wrex replied. “Turians may be spiky but the rest of you is too smooth. Get some scars and we'll talk.”

“Well I need to send word to Admiral Kahoku about his men,” Shepard said. “You guys should take a deserved break.” The Commander strode away without another word, her pace abnormally quick. Seconds after Shepard left Kaidan came down the stairs.

“Where's the Commander?” he asked nervously.

“She went up to report to Admiral Kahoku about what we found,” Garrus replied.

“She seemed agitated,” Tali added.

“Joker sent me to get her,” Kaidan explained. “After what happened on Akuze… well she talks to Jeff more than anyone and he said she's probably reeling.”

“Didn't stop her from killing it,” Wrex commented.

“Yeah, once she got past the initial shock she quickly made a plan,” Garrus said. “She's an impressive woman but that doesn't mean that it being dead means the end of it.”

“Should we give her space?” Tali asked.

“I'm not sure, I'd feel better if she talked to Joker first so he could give his advice on what's best,” Kaidan mused. “I'll head up to the command deck and hopefully catch her.”

Tali spent the next hour checking and double checking the Mako. There was little acid damage to the hull and it quieted her mind to repair it. Based on what the Normandy's crew said Shepard was an amazing soldier who conquered everything put in front of her. Even Akuze hadn't managed to kill her. But Tali knew the kind of scars trauma could leave. Some quarians came back from their Pilgrimages in bad mental shape, especially with the general distrust of her race outside of the Fleet. Shepard showed similar signs today. Her complete check-out when the thresher appeared, the sudden burst of anger, and then pulling away quickly once they were back on the ship. It was hard to gauge what Shepard needed since they had only met recently. Tali wanted to help since the Commander had shown her nothing but kindness. She resolved to speak to their pilot the minute she was done with the hull repair.

The command deck was quiet when Tali came up the stairs. They were jumping to Therum to find the Matriarch's daughter and most of the crew was eating. She spotted Joker in the cockpit and headed over.

“Oh hey, Tali'Zorah right?” he asked when she approached.

“Tali is fine,” she said. “I was hoping you could help me.”

“Well then you can call me Joker,” he said with a laugh. “What can I do for you?”

“Edolus was rough for Shepard,” Tali said carefully, “I was hoping you could tell me how to help her.” Joker smiled.

“Well between, you, the Doc, and Alenko we'll have her back to normal in no time,” he said. “She's had her space already. I wouldn't talk about it directly just yet but give her something to focus on. She already wants to ask you a million questions about quarian life so just give her the opportunity. I'll let her know you're coming up.”

“Up?”

“To the captain's quarters,” Joker explained. “She might not need space but the crew was a little overwhelming.” Tali nodded, feeling anxiety pool in her gut. It was one thing to talk to Shepard in the cargo hold or the engineering deck but entering her personal space was daunting. Still, she was determined to help, and that determination got her in the elevator and pushing the top button.

“Oh hey Tali,” Shepard said. The captain's quarters was bigger than Tali had imagined. The fish tank and wall of model ships stood out immensly. Shepard's rifle was on her desk in neatly arranged pieces, each section cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

“I hope I'm not bothering you,” Tali said quietly.

“Nah, I was just pulling my rifle apart for the fifth time. It helps me relax after a mission.” Tali could see Shepard sinking back into the attack on Edolus so she quickly altered the conversation.

“Well when we were discussing quarian culture we were interrupted,” she began.

“Oh yes! I have so many questions!” Shepard lit up like an omni tool. “First of all, does the zero population rule ever get lifted? How old are you when you get your first suit? What would count as something to give your new captain after your Pilgrimage?” Tali couldn't help but smile and get to work.

**Author's Note:**

> okay yeah it ends pretty sharply but i need a good jump off point m'kay  
> and yes this chapter is dicey as hell but it will improve i promise


End file.
